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June 12, 2014 — Powell’s Moriah Miller is one of two female Wyoming high
school students who were named winners of the National Center for Women &
Information Technology (NCWIT) Award for
Aspirations in Computing.

The Wyoming Affiliate Competition winners were recognized
during a luncheon at the University of Wyoming’s Women in Science
Conference last month.

UW and Western Wyoming Community College (WWCC), affiliates
of the NCWIT awards, selected two winners from across Wyoming. Winners were
chosen based on their computing-related achievements and interests, solid leadership
ability, good academic history and plans for post-secondary education.

“Winning
the NCWIT Computing Award showed me that I am heading in the right direction
toward my future and made me proud to go into the computing field,” says Miller,
who just finished her junior year at Powell High School. “This award has solidified my
love for technology and given me confidence in my work.”

To
help her improve her artistic skills, Miller took her first technology course,
Industrial Technology, in the eighth grade. The course laid the foundation for
her interest in technology and allowed her to close the gap between the
creative images in her head and the stick figures she says ended up on paper.

She
decided to focus on web design and won the poster design contest at her school’s
first “Robo Rumble.” In addition, Miller has created a website used by the
Panther Robotics Team; taken computer science courses at Northwest College; is creating
a website for a man opening the WYOld West Beer Brewing Company; and has written
a software program for Marathon Oil, which allows the company to calculate its
sulfur gauge readings.

The other Wyoming Affiliate Competition winner is Taylor Joan
Mehle of Rock Springs High School.

NCWIT is a nonprofit community of more than 300 prominent
corporations, academic institutions, government agencies and nonprofits that
work to increase women’s participation in technology and computing. Microsoft
and Motorola Solutions Foundation were other award sponsors.

The awards for each winner include a trophy, swag bag, flash
drive and a gift card, according to Carla Hester-Croff, associate professor of
information technology at WWCC.

“Encouraging young women’s
interest in technology careers is critical: Our workforce needs their
creativity and their innovation,” says Lucy Sanders, CEO and co-founder of
NCWIT.

The Women in Science Conference
is designed to raise young women’s (grades 7-12) interest and excitement
in science, technology, math and engineering (STEM) -- career fields
typically dominated by men. Accomplished professional women discuss their
experiences in these fields.

The conference is hosted by the Wyoming NASA Space Grant
Consortium, which
sponsors education and research programs in the state of Wyoming to support
NASA goals. One of the goals of NASA and UW is to get more women and ethnic
minorities involved in educational programs.

For more information about the
Women in Science Conference, contact Michele Turner, program coordinator,
Wyoming NASA Space Grant Consortium, at (307) 766-2862 or mturner@uwyo.edu

Photo:Moriah Miller, a junior at Powell High
School, is one of two recipients from Wyoming to receive the NCWIT Computing
Award.